Broadcast seeder including driven tools and roller

ABSTRACT

A soil working machine has an elongated frame portion that supports a row of soil working tools that extends transverse to the direction of travel. The machine is partly supported by rear wheels that are located adjacent the lateral sides of the machine and arms connect the wheels to an upper part of the machine. A delivery mechanism, including an elongated hopper is mounted on the implement and delivery tubes extend from the hopper to the ground, between the wheels and the soil working tools. The hopper is positioned above the frame portion and a rotatable member in the hopper is drivenly connected to the wheels.

This application is a continuation of Ser. No. 800,428 filed May 25,1977, now abandoned, which is a division of Ser. No. 540,444 filed Jan.13, 1975 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,036,154.

For a better understanding of the invention, and to show how the samemay be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way ofexample, to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a rotary harrow in accordance with theinvention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation to an enlarged scale, as seen in thedirection indicated by an arrow II in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of the harrow of FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a part-sectional scrap view, to an enlarged scale,illustrating details of a support for a delivery tube of a mechanismthat is carried by the harrow for delivering material onto and/or intothe soil that is worked by the harrow during its operation.

Referring to the drawings, the machine that is illustrated is a rotaryharrow that may also be considered as being a soil cultivatingimplement. The harrow has two frame beams 1 and 2 that are disposed oneabove the other is substantially parallel relationship with each beamextending substantially horizontally perpendicular to the intendeddirection of straight forward operative travel of the harrow which isindicated by an arrow A in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings. The lowerframe beam 1 is considerably shorter than the upper frame beam 2 whichlatter beam projects laterally beyond the opposite ends of the framebeam 1 by equal distances (see FIG. 3 of the drawings). The frame beams1 and 2 are rigidly interconnected by two struts 3 that are disposed inupwardly convergent relationship towards the frame beam 2. Substantiallyvertical support plates 4 are rigidly secured to the opposite ends ofthe frame beam 1 and further struts 5 rigidly interconnect those supportplates and locations close to the opposite ends of the upper frame beam2, the struts 5 being in upwardly divergent relationship from thesupport plates 4 to the frame beam 2. Upper and lower region of both ofthe support plates 4 carry stub shafts 6 arranged in substantiallyhorizontally aligned upper and lower pairs which define two axes thatare substantially parallel to the longitudinal axes of the frame beams 1and 2. Four arms 7 that extend rearwardly from the stub shafts 6 withrespect to the direction A are upwardly and downwardly turnable aboutthose stub shafts, the rear ends of the four arms being pivotallyconnected by corresponding further stub shafts 8, that are parallel tothe stubshafts 6, to upper and lower regions of the fronts of brackets9. The brackets 9 are secured to the top of a hollow box-shaped frameportion 10 that extends substantially horizontally parallel to the framebeams 1 and 2 throughout substantially the whole of the width of therotary harrow. It will be apparent from the drawings, and particularlyfrom FIG. 2 thereof, that the frame portion 10 is connected to the framebeams 1 and 2 by a dual parallelogram linkage that is generallyindicated by the reference 11, said linkage being constructed andarranged in such a way that the parts which have just been mentioned canmove upwardly and downwardly relative to one another without significanttilting.

The frame portion 10 is provided at regular intervals of not more than30 centimeters, and preferably substantially 25 centimeters, along itslength with substantially vertical shafts 11A that are thus arranged ina single row which is transverse to the direction A in regularly spacedapart side-by-side relationship. The shafts 11A are rotatably mounted onthe frame portion 10 by ball bearings and are provided, inside thehollow frame portion 10, with corresponding straight- or spur-toothedpinions 12. In the embodiment which is being described, there are twelveof the shafts 11A, and thus twelve of the pinions 12, each pinion 12being arranged in such a way that its teeth are in mesh with those ofits neighbor, or each of its neighbors, in the single row thereof. Lowerends of the shafts 11A project from beneath the frame portion 10 andeach such shaft 11A carries a corresponding substantially horizontaltine support 13 whose opposite ends carry tine holders in which upperfastening portions of soil-working tines 14 are firmly, but releasably,secured. Each pair of tines 14, together with the corresponding tineholders and tine support 13, constitute a rotary soil working memberthat is generally indicated by the reference 15. The twelve soil workingmembers 15 revolve around the axes of the corresponding shafts 11A, towhich they are secured, during the use of the harrow and, due to theintermeshing arrangement of the corresponding pinions 12 that has beendescribed above, each soil working member 15 will revolve in a directionthat is opposite to the direction of rotation of its neighbor, or eachof its neighbors, in the single row thereof. The distance between theactive or soil working portions of the two tines 14 of each soil workingmember 15 is greater than the distance between the axes of rotation ofneighboring shafts 11A so that the twelve soil working members 15 workcorresponding strips of ground that overlap one another to produce, ineffect, a single broad strip of worked soil. The angular dispositions ofthe tine supports 13 about the axes of the shafts 11A are staggered inrespect of neighboring soil working members 15 so that the operatingarrangement which has just been described does not produce collisionfouling between the soil working members 15 when they are in rotation.

Arms 16 are turnable upwardly and downwardly at opposite ends of thehollow frame portion 10 about pivots which define axes that aresubstantially parallel to the direction A and that are located a shortdistance inwardly from the opposite ends of said frame portion 10 on topof the latter (see FIG. 3 of the drawings). The upwardly and downwardlyturnable arms 16 carry screening plates 17 whose shapes can be seen inFIGS. 2 and 3 and whose lowermost edge regions 17A slide over thesurface of the soil during the operation of the harrow. The screeningplates 17 occupy substantially the positions thereof that areillustrated in the drawings during the operation of the harrow and servepartly to minimize ridging of the soil at the edges of the single broadstrip of ground that is worked by the harrow and partly to guard againststones and other potentially harmful objects being flung laterally ofthe harrow by its rapidly rotating tines 14. The opposite ends of thehollow frame portion 10 carry substantially vertically disposed plates18 that are formed as sector plates. Arms 19 are turnable upwardly anddownwardly alongside the two sector plates 18 about a substantiallyhorizontal axis that is defined by strong pivots which are located atthe tops and front of the sector plates 18 with respect to the directionA, said arms 19 extending rearwardly from the pivots that have just beenmentioned with respect to the direction A. Rear edge regions of thesector plates 18 are formed with holes 21 that are equidistant from thepivotal axis of the arms 19 and said arms are formed with single holesthat can be brought into register with chosen holes 21 to receivesubstantially horizontal locking pins 20, or equivalent bolts or thelike, to retain the arms 19 in angular settings about their pivotalconnections with the frame portion 10 that correspond to the selectedholes 21. The rearmost ends of the arms 19 with respect to the directionA have downwardly directed portions whose lower ends carry substantiallyhorizontally aligned bearings 22. A rotatable supporting member in theform of an open ground roller 23 is mounted between the bearings 22 soas to be rotatable about its own longitudinal axis. The rotatablesupporting member that is afforded by the ground roller 23 can be movedupwardly and downwardly relative to the frame portion 10 by adjustingthe angular settings of the arms 19 with the aid of the locking pins 20or equivalent bolts or the like and serves the principal function ofgoverning the depth of penetration of the tines 14 into the soil duringthe operation of the harrow. The ground roller 23 extends throughoutsubstantially the whole of the working width of the harrow and servesthe additional function of crushing any insufficient crumbled lumps ofsoil that may have been thrown rearwardly by the tines 14 and, to thisend, it comprises a plurality, such as eight, of elongated elements 23Awhich constitute the circumference of the basically cylindrical roller23 and are arranged in regularly spaced apart relationship around theaxis of rotation of that roller. The elongated elements 23A arepreferably but not essentially, wound helically around the axis ofrotation of the roller 23.

Two upwardly and forwardly (with respect to the direction A) inclinedsupporting brackets 24 (see FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawings) are providedat the front of the frame portion 10 at locations that are well spacedapart from one another laterally of the direction A. Arms 25 areturnably connected to the upper leading ends of the supporting brackets24 by substantially horizontally aligned pivot pins and, as will be seenin FIG. 2 of the drawings, the arms 25 are normally inclined downwardly,and rearwardly to a small extent with respect to the direction A, fromtheir pivotal mountings towards the soil working members 15. The lowerand rearmost ends of the arms 25 are rigidly interconnected by ascreening element 26 that is afforded principally by a rigid bar or beamof the L-shaped cross-section, said screening element 26 extendingthroughout the working width of the harrow at the horizontal level ofthe tine supports 13 and just in front of the soil working members 15with respect to the direction A. Springs 25A urge the arms 25 abouttheir pivotal mountings in an anticlockwise direction as seen in FIG. 2against stops and the screening element 26 thus normally maintains theillustrated position in which it guards the upper fastening portions ofthe tines 14 and the parts to which they are secured against damage bystones and the like. Should such an object become jammed between one ofthe tine holders and the rear of the screening element 26, thatscreening element can yield forwardly, against the action of the springsthat have been mentioned above, until the object is displaced by thecontinued rotation of the member 15 thus avoiding damage or reducing itto an insignificant minimum in almost every case.

Strong lugs 27 project rearwardly from the frame beam 2 adjacent theopposite ends thereof and a tube 28 is turnably journalled in openingsat the rear ends of said lugs 27. The tube 28 is bent overperpendicularly just beyond the lugs 27 to form tubular arms 29 that areinclined downwardly and rearwardly with respect to the direction A fromthe lugs 27 (see FIG. 2). The lowermost and rearmost end of each tubulararm 29 carries a corresponding substantially horizontal axle 31 and tworotary supporting members in the form of ground wheels 30 are mounted onthe corresponding axles 31. The tube 28 is provided, at locations spacedapart from its center, with two pairs of lugs 32 in each of which pairsthe corresponding lugs 32 are spaced apart from one another. One end ofa link 33 of adjustable length is pivotally mounted between each pair oflugs 32 and the opposite end thereof is pivotally connected to the framebeam 1 near the corresponding end of that frame beam. The adjustablelinks 33 constitute a setting mechanism with the aid of which thetubular arms 29 and the ground wheels 30 can be set, and retained in,corresponding angular settings about the longitudinal axis of the tube28 relative to a first portion 34 of the harrow frame that is intendedfor coupling to the three-point lifting device or hitch of an operatingtractor or other vehicle and which portion includes the frame beams 1and 2 and the struts 3 and 5. Each arm 29 is provided on its lowersurface at a location near the midpoint of that arm with a downwardlydirected lug 35 to one end of which a corresponding chain 36 isconnected. The opposite ends of the two chains 36 are connected to lugsat the top and rear of the second frame portion 10 with respect to thedirection A.

Upright bars 37 of L-shaped cross-section are fastened to the oppositeends of the frame beam 2 and carry rearwardly extending brackets 38 thatafford support for a hopper 39. The hopper 39 forms part of a mechanism39A for applying material onto and/or into the soil and is locatedsubstantially vertically above the box-shaped frame portion 10 with itslongitudinal axis in substantially parallel relationship with the framebeams 1 and 2. The hopper 39 may contain materials such as seeds,powdered or granular fertilizers and the like. A plurality, such asseventeen, of delivery tubes 40 open into the bottom of the hopper 39 atintervals along the transverse length thereof, said delivery tubes 40being of telescopic construction and being arranged so that they areinclined downwardly, and rearwardly with respect to the direction A tosome extent, from top to bottom. The delivery tubes are arranged inside-by-side relationship and each of them is held, near its lowermostand rearmost end, in a corresponding forked supporting bracket 41, theseventeen or other number of brackets 41 all being carried by a commonsupport bar 42 of L-shaped cross-section that interconnects upper andrear regions of the two arms 19. In order that each delivery tube 40should be movable to some extent with respect to the correspondingforked supporting bracket 41, one side of each tube 40 is provided, inthe region of the corresponding bracket 41, with a projecting lug andthat lug is pivotally mounted between limbs of the bracket 41 concernedby a corresponding pivot pin 43. The pivot pins 43 extend substantiallyhorizontally parallel to the beams 1 and 2 and are located in front ofthe delivery tubes 40 with respect to the direction A (see FIG. 4 of thedrawings). It will be evident from FIG. 4 of the drawings that eachdelivery tube 40 is not only turnable to some extent about thecorresponding pivot pin 43 but is also movable laterally to a limitedextent in a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis ofthe corresponding pin 43. A rotatable delivery member 44 is disposedinside a lower region of the hopper 39 just above the connections of thedelivery tubes 40 to that hopper. The rotatable delivery member 44comprises a central shaft carrying a plurality of feeder members forsupplying material from the hopper 39 to the tubes 40 at a controlledrate, the central shaft projecting outwardly beyond the opposite lateralends of the hopper 39. The opposite ends of the central shaft of therotatable delivery member 44 are located in corresponding gear boxes 45which contain bevel pinions or other transmission members that placesaid shaft in driven connection with telescopic transmission shafts 46having universal joints at their opposite ends. The ends of the shafts46 that are remote from the gear boxes 45 are driven from the outputshafts of two gear boxes 47 that are located between the ground wheels30 and the corresponding arms 29. Input shafts of the two gear boxes 47are coaxial with, or are afforded by, the wheel axles 31 and it will berealized that the arrangement is such that rotation of the ground wheels30 as a result of progress of the harrow over the ground causes rotationof the delivery member 44 in the hopper 39 at a speed which is directlyproportional to the rate of travel of the harrow. It has previously beenmentioned that the first frame portion 34 is provided with means forcoupling the harrow to the three-point lifting device or hitch of anagricultural tractor or other operating vehicle and it will now be notedthat said means comprises a pair of upper lugs 48 fastened to the framebeam 2 for connection to the upper adjustable lifting link of such athree-point lifting device or hitch and two horizontally spaced apartlugs 49 carried by the frame beam 1 for cooperation with the two lowerlifting links with the aid of a substantially horizontal pivot shaft asillustrated in outline in the drawings.

In the use of the rotary harrow that has been described, its first frameportion 34 is connected to the three-point lifting device or hitch of anagricultural tractor or other operating vehicle in a manner which isknown per se employing the lugs 48 and 49 for that purpose. The frameportion 34 is thus supported by the agricultural tractor or otheroperating vehicle but also by the large ground wheels 30 whose levelsrelative to the frame portion 34 are set by appropriate manipulations ofthe adjustable links 33. A gear box 50 is arranged on top of the secondframe portion 10 above one of the center pair of soil-working members 15and said gear box 50 has a forwardly projecting rotary input shaft thatis placed in driven connection with the power take-off shaft of theagricultural tractor or other operating vehicle, to which the frameportion 34 is coupled, by way of an intermediate telescopic transmissionshaft having universal joints at its opposite ends. Bevel pinions orother transmission members within the gear box 50 place the rotary inputshaft thereof in driving connection with an upward extension of theshaft 11A that corresponds to the soil-working member 15 above which thegear box 50 is located and, accordingly, the application of rotary driveto the input shaft of the gear box 50 causes all of the soil-workingmembers 15 to rotate in the manner discussed above which is such, itwill be remembered, that each member 15 revolves in a direction which isopposite to that of its neighbor, or each of its neighbors, in thesingle row thereof. The depth of penetration of the tines 14 into thesoil is controlled by setting the roller 23 at an appropriate levelrelative to the second frame portion 10 with the aid of the arms 19 andthe locking pins 20 or equivalent bolts or the like in the manner thathas been described above. It will be remembered that the frame portion10 and the soil-working members 15 that are connected thereto can moveupwardly and downwardly independently of the first frame portion 34 byvirtue of the dual parallelogram linkage 11 by which the frame portion10 is connected to the frame portion 34. The hopper 39 has a lid orcover which can be opened to insert a supply of seeds, fertilizer orsome other material that it may be desired to add to the soil at thesame time as that soil is cultivated or harrowed by the tines 14 and theroller 23. As discussed above, progress of the harrow over the groundcauses rotation of the large ground wheels 30 at a corresponding speedand this rotation is transmitted to the delivery member 44 within thehopper 39 thus causing the material within the hopper to be fed to thedelivery tubes 40 at a rate that is directly proportional to the speedof travel over the ground of the harrow. The delivery tubes 40 openabove the ground roller 23 and material from the hopper 39 isaccordingly left on, or just beneath, the surface of the soil that hasbeen worked by the foregoing tines 14 and that is subsequently lightlycompressed by the roller 23. The pivotable connection of the deliverytubes 40 to the bar 42 protects those tubes against being bent orotherwise deformed at times when the second frame portion 10 and theroller 23 are moving upwardly or downwardly relative to the first frameportion 34.

When the harrow is to be transported from one place to another withoutperforming any operation, it is lifted clear of the ground by raisingthe links of the three-point lifting device or hitch of the agriculturaltractor or other operating vehicle to which the harrow is connected. Theframe portion 10 and the roller 23 are prevented from turning too fardownwardly relative to the frame portion 34 under these circumstances bythe chains 36 which become taut under the action of gravity. Thisarrangement is apparent from a study of FIG. 2, in particular, of thedrawings. The construction which has been described and which isillustrated in the accompanying drawings ensures that the weight of thefirst frame portion 34 that is directly connected to the operatingagricultural tractor or other vehicle and the weight of any othermechanisms that may be carried on that frame portion, such as thedescribed and illustrated mechanism for applying material onto and/orinto the soil, will not excessively load the rotatable supporting memberthat is afforded by the ground roller 23, said roller 23 being locatedimmediately behind the soil-working members 15 with respect to thedirection A. It will be realized that, when operating on heavy wetsoils, there is some tendency for the roller 23 to sink into the surfacethereof and, with very heavy loading of the roller 23, it could sink toofar into the soil producing excessive compression thereof and/oradhesion of a lot of sticky soil to the roller and particularly to theopen interior thereof.

Although various features of the soil-cultivating implement or rotaryharrow that has been described and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings will be set forth in the following claims as inventivefeatures, it is emphasized that the invention is not necessarily limitedto those features and that it includes within its scope each of theparts of the soil-cultivating implement or rotary harrow that has beendescribed and/or that has been illustrated in the accompanying drawingsboth individually and in various combinations.

What we claim is:
 1. A soil working machine having a front couplingframe connectable to a prime mover and an elongated frame portion thatis pivotably linked to said coupling frame, said frame portion extendingtransverse to the direction of travel and a row of soil working membershaving downwardly extending tools being rotatably mounted on said frameportion, drive means connected to rotate said soil working members aboutupwardly extending axes, at least one ground engaging supporting wheelpositioned to the rear of said row of said soil working members and armmeans interconnecting said wheel to said coupling frame, said arm meansbeing inclined from an upper part of the coupling frame, downwardly andrearwardly to said wheel, with respect to the normal direction ofmachine travel, said wheel being journalled adjacent the rear of saidarm means, a delivery device including a hopper and tubes for deliveringmaterial to the ground being supported on said coupling frame and saidhopper being mounted substantially directly above said frame portion, anelongated roller positioned in front of said wheel and to the rear ofsaid frame portion, said roller being pivoted to said frame portion witharm elements and means fixing said elements together with roller in anyone of a plurality of supporting positions with respect to said soilworking members, to regulate the working depths thereof, said rollerbeing open with a periphery of circumferentially positioned elongateelements that engage the soil worked by said tools, bracket meansinterconnected to said frame portion, said tubes extending downwardlyand rearwardly to said bracket means and lower open ends of said tubesbeing loosely retained by said bracket means, said open ends beingpositioned directly above said roller, adjacent the front of the path ofsaid elongate elements, whereby material is delivered through said endsto soil being worked and subsequently the soil and material are lightlycompressed by the roller.
 2. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein atleast one arm pivotably connects said wheel to an upper portion of saidmachine.
 3. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein there are twowheels that are positioned adjacent respective lateral sides of saidmachine and a corresponding arm connects each wheel to the remainder ofsaid machine, said arm extending upwardly and forwardly from said wheel.4. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said coupling frame issupported by ground wheels that are located to the rear of said rollerand adjacent the lateral sides of the roller.
 5. A machine as claimed inclaim 1, wherein said hopper is elongated and extends across the workingwidth of said row, a plurality of delivery tubes communicating materialfrom said hopper to the ground, said tubes each having an outlet that islocated between said wheel and said soil working members.
 6. A machineas claimed in claim 5, wherein said hopper has an internal deliverymember and driving means interconnects said wheel to said deliverymember.
 7. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said bracket meansincludes a respective bracket for each tube lower end and said bracketis supported by said arm elements.